1,800 arrests logged in N.J. crime-fighting initiative

A statewide anti-crime initiative focusing on criminal street gangs has already tallied more than 1,800 arrests and more than $4 million in drug seizures since its launch this summer, state officials said today.

Attorney General Anne Milgram said coordinated operations involving the State Police and 19 county prosecutors have resulted in the seizure of hundreds of guns and $857,769 in cash taken in connection with the sale of illegal drugs. The operations are part of Gov. Jon Corzine's Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods.

"The success of our inaugural initiative - conducted in all corners of our state -- is due to the strong cooperation among local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies," Milgram said. "We aimed our attention at the most violent of violent criminals and the toughest of street gangs trafficking in illegal drugs and guns and terrorizing neighborhoods and communities."

The statewide initiative, directed by Jose Cordero, the statewide director of gangs, guns and violent crime control strategies, led to the arrest of 29 suspects in connection with 17 murders. Another seven suspects were arrested in connection with three attempted murders. About one-third of those arrested had violent criminal backgrounds and 530 were suspected street gang members, belonging to various sets of the Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings and other gangs.

The Attorney General said similar operations that are based on intelligence gathering by police will continue, and she said she planned to create "Gangstat," a police intelligence model which will allow prosecutors and law enforcement officials throughout the state to share gang-related information.

The Governor's Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods, unveiled last fall, adopts an intelligence-led policing model which focuses on targeting resources against the most violent criminals in areas of the state hit hardest by drug and gun trafficking. Uniform Crime Report statistics for the first nine months of 2008 show a continuing decline in the violent crime rate statewide and in the state's 15 most urban cities and cities.